How to Use explicit in a Sentence

explicit

adjective
  • The law is very explicit about how these measures should be enacted.
  • Changes to the property can't be done without their explicit consent.
  • The movie contains scenes of explicit violence.
  • They were given explicit instructions.
  • And it’s, again, on the verge of being too explicit in a way.
    Hanna Lustig, Glamour, 7 Oct. 2022
  • The desire is to change the state of the law without being explicit about that.
    Hope Reese, Longreads, 18 Dec. 2019
  • Thenell said some of the comments are crude and explicit.
    Noelle Crombie, OregonLive.com, 12 Feb. 2018
  • This is most explicit when the basis of the law is scriptural.
    Marilynne Robinson, Harper’s Magazine , 20 July 2022
  • Alex and Paul’s love scene was more explicit than we’re used to seeing on the show.
    Emily Longeretta, Variety, 11 Dec. 2023
  • But the language: The show is full of explicit words, all ripped from real life.
    Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2021
  • It was done in a way that was not explicit, even to some of the people that were working on it.
    Shirin Ghaffary, Recode, 21 Nov. 2018
  • He was seen wearing a shirt with an explicit word on it.
    Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 31 Aug. 2023
  • The court has been very explicit — history has to be our guide here.
    Nora Mishanec, SFChronicle.com, 31 Dec. 2020
  • Pier Francesco Orsini, the duke who commissioned the Sacro Bosco in the mid-1500s, left no explicit clues.
    Lanta Davis and Vince Reighard, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Oct. 2024
  • Should Tiexiera and Hall have made that detail explicit in the text?
    Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 June 2022
  • Outside of Times Square, that’s an explicit cry for help.
    Joseph Lezza, Longreads, 30 Mar. 2023
  • The goal of winning the match was still explicit, but there was no input data.
    Peter Sayer, PCWorld, 24 May 2017
  • Some films were even more explicit about how changing times left some with nowhere left to call home.
    Keith Phipps, Vulture, 18 Jan. 2021
  • The rest of her work, though highly charged, is never so explicit.
    Sasha Weiss Sasha Weiss Photographs By Justin French Nick Haramis Photographs By Lise Sarfati Styled By Suzanne Koller Adam Bradley Photographs By D’angelo Lovell Williams Styled By Ian Bradley Susan Dominus Photographs By Luis Alberto Rodriguez Styled By Charlotte Collet, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2022
  • The store has no explicit theme, but it's grouped in a flurry of categories.
    Andrew Craft, Fox News, 13 July 2017
  • Any message that seems to have the explicit goal of getting your phone number.
    Ashley Stahl, Forbes, 4 June 2021
  • Coach Tyronn Lue has been explicit in setting the bar high for the Clippers.
    Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2022
  • Here it is made explicit; you are asked to bring something to the image on the cover of the magazine.
    Time, 27 Oct. 2022
  • The claim is not explicit about whether those claims address one or two coaches.
    Chris White, The Courier-Journal, 15 May 2018
  • But the nod is not only there, where the reference is explicit.
    Wesley Morris, New York Times, 30 July 2022
  • Mejia can be heard on the video using explicit language and yelling at the officers to get away from him.
    Taylor Pettaway, San Antonio Express-News, 29 Mar. 2021
  • That connection was not explicit when the show first aired.
    New York Times, 4 Jan. 2022
  • The leaders of Ford's high school have been a bit more explicit in their messaging.
    Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, 27 Sep. 2018
  • Instead that profile spends more time on the film’s explicit scenes.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 29 Nov. 2024
  • The left-leaning Guardian made an explicit appeal to readers for donations.
    David Folkenflik, NPR, 4 Dec. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'explicit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: